Friday, October 29, 2010

Even Without Inafune, Mega Man Will Live On

News of Keiji Inafune's resignation from Capcom has naturally caused a bit of a knee-jerk reaction from the fanbase. Many are under the impression that a Capcom without Inafune means "no more Mega Man." This, thankfully, isn't the case. Capcom US's Joveth Gonzalez stepped up to the plate to quell these fears in a post at the Capcom Unity forums:

"Please try not to freak out! Legends 3 is not canceled. There were already producers and directors working on the title and they will continue to work on the game as planned. Same goes for the Street Fighter franchise.

There are entire teams that actually create the Mega Man games. Capcom has been working hard on restructuring its operations over the past few years in order to build a development organization that is not dependent on any single individual. While Inafune will be missed, we can’t ignore the fact that there are teams and producers working on these Mega Man games already."

The staff behind the likes of Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3 seem like a promising bunch so despite Inafune's absence, I'm sure those titles and the franchise as a whole are in good, passionate hands. Indeed, it is sad to hear Inafune wont see MML3 to completion, but take to heart that he got to see it green-lit and will now be able to enjoy the game as a player -- one of us.

All we can do at this point is continue to wish Inafune well, and support the individuals who will carry on the franchise from here.

As I said before in the previous post's comments, Megaman and its history "...will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun, and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man… where no *one* has gone before.”-James T. Kirk,Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Omg, I read this over at another site. I can't believe it. But I do understand his reasons for leaving, it just sucks that he finally got to make a game that he wanted to do (DASH 3.) I hope he that if he does continues making games that he enjoys it.

Many Sonic after the Adventure Series were still made under his wing.And that didn't matter.

So the quality of those isn't because of that, Yuji Naka, the so called "Sonic Creator", where he only created the concept of a in-game speedy character, not Sonic as a whole, isn't a Sonic's "Holy's Grail", he made several mistakes, to the point of calling the main level designer of the old Genesis/Mega Drive Sonic games. "Useless".

Don't get me wrong, I still like him as a developer, his latest game made with his own company, is really great.

While there are two or three Good Mega Man games coming every now and then, there were doubtful titles, in the latter Years Inafune had little control over it, and maybe that's one of the reasons of his frustration, which ironically, was what mostly happened with all of Sonic Creator(s) / Original Sonic Team.

Thank god Capcom actually came out and said that. Because really, video games are not created from the sheer will and vision of one man. People seem to have a hard time understanding this. They always need scapegoats for failure and heroes for success. Just look at Final Fantasy and Tetsuya Nomura, who gets all the crap for any of the series shortcomings, even though for most of the time, he hasn't been much more than illustrator!

Same with Rockman. Ever since PS1 era, Inafune was merely one of producers. Heck, in certain games, he didn't even do anything other than receiving special thanks in credits! No to mention that even before that, he also was an illustrator, a visual and character designer, but not the gameplay designer, not the level creator and not a programmer. He didn't even design the original Rockman.

Forgive me for letting out my anger and frustration, but I feel the need to stick up for the underdog here. With that semi-apology/warning in place...

I hope Mega Man Universe outsells Mega Man Legends 3, if only to stick it in the faces of all the haters that keep talking crap about it. I'm getting so sick and tired of hearing people badmouth Mega Man Universe, and it astounds me that nobody sees the irony that these reactions to Mega Man Universe were the same ones people had to the first Mega Man Legends when it came out back in 1998.

Seeing these Mega Man Universe trailers with Inafune cheering "Your World Megafied" have now become quite sad to me now that he's left the company. Coupled with the fact that the "fans" seem to hate on this game so much only adds on to my grief. After 21 years of delivering hit after hit in an awesome series of games, Inafune really deserved a more grateful fanbase than this. =/

You know, I had always assumed Inafune would still see Legends 3 to completion as an Executive Producer, etc. despite him leaving Capcom. He'd basically just be freelancing, that's all. Again, that was what I assumed. It's really sad that it's not the case. =(

"I hope Mega Man Universe outsells Mega Man Legends 3, if only to stick it in the faces of all the haters that keep talking crap about it. I'm getting so sick and tired of hearing people badmouth Mega Man Universe, and it astounds me that nobody sees the irony that these reactions to Mega Man Universe were the same ones people had to the first Mega Man Legends when it came out back in 1998."

There's a difference here. I do agree with the 'judging before the game is even released' part, but there is a difference here.

MMU is already part of an established franchise (Classic). Legends was a new series entirely. At least here, Classic fans have a right to be displeased with the direction that MMU is taking.

Not to say that I'm part of the Classic fanbase, though. I'm getting tired of the crap within the Classic and X fanbases.

CALM DOWN PEOPLE. Mega Man games will continue to move onward. We will still have our Mega Man games.

And 'crap from the X/Classic fanbases'? Really, what crap have we done? I'm really sick of the X fanbase getting blamed for the man leaving the company from the getgo.. There's not even an X game being made right now; so we have NOTHING to do with Inafune leaving.

Hopefully, this will mean more MM games that should have been made that won't be dismissed or stopped because of one sole man. Like, oh, a MM Classic game that links Classic/X. Or X9. Or CM2. Or something like that. Or PU2. Or MHX2. Y'know, the games that we wanted (that caused MMX Collection to not have all the crap we were promised), maybe they'll finally see light of day. Maybe. I can't help but feel Inafune, with his hatred of the 'extended' X series, caused alot of that crap to fall to the wayside. Maybe now we'll see some of the stuff we've been waiting for.

And as far as 'crap from the X/Classic fanbase'...

We were here FIRST. We're in our 25s-30s and we grew UP on the WHOLE series, not just Legends or Battle Network or whatever. We've been there since square one. I OWN all the NES MM games in original cart format, aside one: Mega Man 2.. because, as that was my father's favorite game EVAR, when he passed away in 2007, I left it in his casket for him. I just haven't bought a new copy yet; running a small animal rescue and caring for 14 cats within it, causes one to not have 5 dollars to blow on Ebay for a new copy. I'll just ask for it for Christmas.

Oh, and I have all the X games too. X1, X2, X3, X4.. all of them, cases and boxes.. if I could save them.. I have MM1-3 on GameBoy! I lost MM4 and MM5 in a housefire. And those two are mad-hard to find.

Case in point, we've been here since square one and I think we have the right to be upset when the games that we want the most are denied or are half-assed from what they could be, or were promised to be. >:(

CALM DOWN, PEOPLE. Capcom owns Mega Man, not Inafune. And as someone pointed out, Sonic games sucked with Yuji Naka and without him.

This may be good, considering Inafune is the sole person who's been blocking ALOT of the more requested games.. (CM2. MMPU2. MHX2. X9. X in MvsC3, and the list goes on and on and on..!)

And, excuse me? The 'crap from X/Classic fanbase'? Well, maybe we're sick of the crap we've been getting because of the other fanbases out there! You guys tend to forget; we've BEEN HERE since square one and the majority of us have played Mega Man games since Mega Man 1 and GREW UP on this 'crap', so excuse us if we're upset that you younger kids that came along when Capcom sold out and decided to turn Mega Man into a digital monster / Pokemon type piece of turd and sideswiped our own respective 'favorite series' for your own. Let's not forget, Classic fans have been waiting for new Classic series games since 1997 before MM9 was announced. Legends fans have been waiting close to 10, and we X fans have, so far, been waiting for 6 years almost, for a new X title. Meanwhile BN and ZX and Zero games have all been popular and all the rage, and we 'crappy fans' have been WAITING.

I too am getting sick of the MegaMan fanbase (Classic, X, Zero, ZX, Legends, Battle Network and Star Force) being blamed for the series going downhill. What did we fans do to make the MegaMan series go downhill? Infunae didn't left Capcom cause of us fans, he left cause the stress was getting to him!

What I say may be wrong though, but I had to agree with WolfShadow on this one.

@ Wolfshadow: When I said 'crap from the Classic/X fanbases', I meant the massive amount of infighting within those fanbases coupled with a significantly higher tendency for some members of those fanbases go out and blame the rest of the fanbases for this seemingly recent downfall of Rockman. It has nothing to do with the games themselves or whether or not you guys came earlier.

- By infighting, I meant much of the Classic fanbase adopting a nothing-or-all-attitude towards certain types of projects within the series itself. Notably MM9 and MM10 compared to MM7, MM8, and MMU.

I know MMU especially sounds like it has a lot of gameplay-related concerns, but what do I hear 90% of the time whenever someone argues that MMU (and in some cases, MM7 and MM8) is most likely going to be inferior to games like MM9 and MM10? Less criticism of gameplay, and a lot more criticism of the graphics.

In the case of the Classic fanbase, it's a lot less an issue in terms of their treatment of the other fanbases, and a lot more of an issue in terms of their treatment towards projects and themselves.

- And don't give me that "you younger kids that came along when Capcom sold out and decided to turn Mega Man into a digital monster / Pokemon type piece of turd and sideswiped our own respective 'favorite series' for your own" crap.

The Classic series being dormant during the time is admittedly inexcusable, but I do not get why the majority of the X fanbase that I run into sound like they feel obligated to get a new game.

The X series was still continuing throughout the Battle Network series. And the Zero series. And now you guys are getting Mega Man Online, which admittedly isn't a true X game, but my point is, at least you guys should be happy that the X series is still ongoing, especially when it was originally supposed to end long ago at X5.

But instead, there are still calls for X9 on top of that, which would be fine and understandable especially when considering that the last few X titles were less than desirable. However, a significant number of said calls are usually accompanied by bashing of said 'Pokemon' games and potshots at their fanbase.

This is especially seen whenever a new EXE/SSR game is announced, what with the mentality that a new EXE/SSR game somehow robbed the chances of an MM11/X9/whatever game within the Robotics Timeline, barring Legends 3. Why is Legends 3 exempt? I'm getting to that...

Finally, and I cannot stress this last point enough, anyone that knows anything about how the Capcom development teams work should be blaming IntiCreates for choosing to focus on Zero and ZX games instead of Classic and X games. Not the development team that only works on Legends, EXE, and Star Force games. And certainly not their fanbases.

For all of the people that are still entrenched in the mentality that a new EXE/SSR game somehow hurts the chances of a new Classic/X game being developed, I have to ask you guys this: Do you guys REALLY want the Network team to work on a Classic/X game?

I thought all that should have been clear enough when I said 'within', but since it looks like you took the elitism stance from the get-go (not to mention convienently ignoring the Zero and ZX series and putting the whole blame on the 'Pokemon' fans to boot), it's only furthering my point.

(I'd be surprised if you actually read this, what with how long it took me to notice this and reply. No offense to you in this case.)

@ Wolfshadow: When I said 'crap from the Classic/X fanbases', I meant the massive amount of infighting within those fanbases coupled with a significantly higher tendency for some members of those fanbases go out and blame the rest of the fanbases for this seemingly recent downfall of Rockman. It has nothing to do with the games themselves or whether or not you guys came earlier.

- By infighting, I meant much of the Classic fanbase adopting a nothing-or-all-attitude towards certain types of projects within the series itself. Notably MM9 and MM10 compared to MM7, MM8, and MMU.

I know MMU especially sounds like it has a lot of gameplay-related concerns, but what do I hear 90% of the time whenever someone argues that MMU (and in some cases, MM7 and MM8) is most likely going to be inferior to games like MM9 and MM10? Less criticism of gameplay, and a lot more criticism of the graphics.

In the case of the Classic fanbase, it's a lot less an issue in terms of their treatment of the other fanbases, and a lot more of an issue in terms of their treatment towards projects and themselves.

- And don't give me that "you younger kids that came along when Capcom sold out and decided to turn Mega Man into a digital monster / Pokemon type piece of turd and sideswiped our own respective 'favorite series' for your own" crap.

The Classic series being dormant during the time is admittedly inexcusable, but I do not get why the majority of the X fanbase that I run into sound like they feel obligated to get a new game.

The X series was still continuing throughout the Battle Network series. And the Zero series. And now you guys are getting Mega Man Online, which admittedly isn't a true X game, but my point is, at least you guys should be happy that the X series is still ongoing, especially when it was originally supposed to end long ago at X5.

But instead, there are still calls for X9 on top of that, which would be fine and understandable especially when considering that the last few X titles were less than desirable. However, a significant number of said calls are usually accompanied by bashing of said 'Pokemon' games and potshots at their fanbase.

This is especially seen whenever a new EXE/SSR game is announced, what with the mentality that a new EXE/SSR game somehow robbed the chances of an MM11/X9/whatever game within the Robotics Timeline, barring Legends 3. Why is Legends 3 exempt? I'm getting to that...

Finally, and I cannot stress this last point enough, anyone that knows anything about how the Capcom development teams work should be blaming IntiCreates for choosing to focus on Zero and ZX games instead of Classic and X games. Not the development team that only works on Legends, EXE, and Star Force games. And certainly not their fanbases.

For all of the people that are still entrenched in the mentality that a new EXE/SSR game somehow hurts the chances of a new Classic/X game being developed, I have to ask you guys this: Do you guys REALLY want the Network team to work on a Classic/X game?

I thought all that should have been clear enough when I said 'within', but since it looks like you took the elitism stance from the get-go (not to mention convienently ignoring the Zero and ZX series and putting the whole blame on the 'Pokemon' fans to boot), it's only furthering my point.

(I'd be surprised if you actually read this, what with how long it took me to notice this and reply. No offense to you in this case.)

Uh, I read it all (and looks like you had the same problem of the blog posting it twice! XD;)

I'm not blaming anyone for anything. I've said from the get-go, that everybody, regardless of what side-series is your favorite, is entitled to that, and hey, I'm happy when ANY Mega Man gets into a cross over (I do have SNK Chaos simply for Zero, TvsC simply for the fact he's there as well, etc).. I do support the series when I can and when I feel it's right. But even so!

I just, dislike all of this, hating on the other fanbases of the other MM sideseries, the blame that gets placed on whoever because, 'well, you like this one more than my series so i hate you!!!111' crap. MMEXE fans are entitled, that's their 'Mega Man' and it kinda makes some of them get interested in the classic MM games since the most of them are based on Classic series Robot Masters and stuff (aside Iris, Colonel, and the Zero Virus.. To which I even say "WTF WHY NO X.EXE!!!!!" I woulda been SOLD on the series!) Hell, I even play Pokemon! (I'm going threw Black and White RIGHT NOW in Japanese! No joke! I can't read a DAMN THING but I'm playing it! I DLed the polar bear thing AND my Victini ticket!)

Either way.. *sigh* I just wish we could all get along. I didn't think I sounded like an elitist, and as I hate them with a passion, I am sorry if I came across that way; but since most of the designers and such work on multiple RM titles and are not restricted to any certain series.

(for example, with the Dash 3 Lily design competition, I noted some of the folks who designed games had EXE AND X titles under their belts.) I had no idea Sensei was still there, but I do miss his artwork of X and Zero; I didn't care for the X8 designs all that much, aside Alia's hair looked nicer. Obviously being at Capcom means there is no strict "X only" and "EXE only" workers. Everybody works on everything... like all jobs.

I just wish we'd all get along, and support the franchise as a whole.. despite which side-series is our favorites.